


a love language

by kerrykins



Category: Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Genre: Character Study, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 09:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19017085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerrykins/pseuds/kerrykins
Summary: this has been sitting in google docs for so long and i finally decided to finish it-- it's not even close to how i initially envisioned it but i'll just make sure the fic i have in the works will compensate for ita large thank you to all the people in the eleachel discord: elle, reinedelutin, ace, and corasparasol! you guys are so sweet and supportive like... i loveth y'all <33





	a love language

**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting in google docs for so long and i finally decided to finish it-- it's not even close to how i initially envisioned it but i'll just make sure the fic i have in the works will compensate for it
> 
> a large thank you to all the people in the eleachel discord: elle, reinedelutin, ace, and corasparasol! you guys are so sweet and supportive like... i loveth y'all <33

Eleanor speaks Cantonese, Hokkien, Malay, French, and English. Some more than others, all of them acquired from years of private tutors, boarding school, and university. Despite being almost nearly fluent in five languages, her diction always crisp and concise, there are some instances where words fail. That’s where the gift-giving comes in, though it has many variants- bribery, appeasement, blackmail. Eleanor doesn’t acknowledge that these exist, obviously.

 

She’s always had an eye for it, pairing the appropriate lanterns for an occasion, composing colour schemes for dinner parties. Eleanor’s able to discern what cuts of diamonds are gaudy and which are truly beautiful by a mere glance, appraising the worth of a tie by running it through her fingers. 

 

Her mind is a cacophony of numbers, designer names, gossip, colours, running through numerous metaphysical lists of information simultaneously.  _ The auction starts at 9:00 on Tuesday, the pandan is being served before the klepon, Lorena will be in Paris for the next week, Su-Yi wants to stay in the garden all day tomorrow, and the chili crab is going to be overdone if that cook doesn’t remove it now. Kitty Pong’s jumper is Balenciaga from Spring 2018.  _

 

Ticking, clicking, working, at all hours of the day.

 

Her refined taste is the culmination of an upbringing right in the lap of Singaporean aristocracy. With a childhood of the finest dresses from Paris, miniature tea sets of white porcelain, and special edition Austen novels, it’d be hard not to learn a few things. 

 

It’s so easy, especially when she’s rich and can get her hands on anything she needs. Business connections, social circles, and family ties allow her even more choice, her relationships with the world’s most influential and elite paving the way to seemingly endless possibilities. Needless to say, she’s well equipped to woo and impress whomever she pleases.

 

But what makes Eleanor’s gifts so special is not a matter of monetary value. It’s that she can read people like a book, pick them apart to see what they’re made of. Then she makes a move. In a way it’s like mahjong, except Eleanor is playing with people rather than tiles. Someone always wants something and Eleanor is always able to identify what that is, which makes them as pliable as dough in her well-manicured hands.

 

She examines every pattern on the skirt of a dress, the brushstrokes of a painting, the tang of sweet plum wine. Is it enough for her? Will it be enough for them? Can she go above and beyond this? Has she already surpassed that limit? The answer more often than not, is yes. 

 

Eleanor does everything but move mountains for Su-Yi, she wins over fellow socialites with her impeccable taste, falls in love, makes someone love her, and when she proposes with the perfect ring under the perfect circumstances, Rachel Chu says yes. 

 

Rachel is a challenge. She only speaks English and economics. She claims she knows Mandarin, but Eleanor has her doubts. The girl shops at Old Navy, has instant coffee for breakfast, and is terrible at making dumplings. 

 

Needless to say, Eleanor is frustrated. 

 

Rachel Chu, the self-made economics professor, who wears her heart on her sleeve, is immune to Eleanor’s charms. Eleanor is at a complete loss as to how to read her, as a mile long list of failed gifts would indicate. It doesn’t make sense, because growing up poor should make Rachel easy to impress- this has actually proven to be a curveball Eleanor hadn’t anticipated.

 

She remembers the first failure all too well. It was only their second date, and she’d tried giving Rachel a book on economics.

 

Rachel already owns that book, several copies in fact, she said as she handed back the book with a sweetly apologetic smile. Apparently she had mentioned it before. 

 

Eleanor pays more attention to her, so she can do better next time. Rachel is easy to talk to and Eleanor finds herself getting lost in their conversations, only to later realise she hasn’t gleaned any useful information. She can’t find it in herself to be too upset, though.

 

Now they’re married, which is something Eleanor would never have believed two years ago. If anyone had told her then, she would have laughed in their face, or more realistically drive them into the ground.

 

“You know,” Rachel says when Eleanor comes home with a necklace from Tiffany, “You don’t have to buy me all this stuff.”

 

“Nonsense,” Eleanor says, closing the clasp of it around Rachel’s neck. She lets her hand linger a little, brushing against the collarbone. “I want to.” And that’s the truth. It had been a shock for Eleanor, to realise that she didn’t need to buy Rachel’s love. The girl simply loved her-- for reasons that will always be beyond Eleanor-- but certainly not for her money, reputation, or surname.

 

That might be the best gift Eleanor’s received in her life.


End file.
